January 23, 2009

LOS HIJOS DEL SOL

bandleader Angel Anibal Rosado

Time to gather round and worship at the feet of some really excellent music out of Peru.

Chicha started out in the late 60’s, in the oil-boom cities of the Peruvian Amazon. Cumbias Amazonicas, as they were first known, were loosely inspired by Colombian cumbias but incorporated the distinctive pentatonic scales of Andean melodies, some Cuban guajiras, and the psychedelic sounds of surf guitars, wah-wah pedals, farfisa organs and moog synthesizers.

Chicha, which is named after a corn-based liquor favored by the Incas, quickly spread to Lima. It became the music of choice of the mostly indigenous new migrant population – mixing even further with rock, Andean folklore and Peruvian creole music.

Very much like Jamaican Ska or Congolese Soukous, Chicha is western-influenced indigenous music geared toward the new urban masses who wholly identified with the new hybrid. Chicha is at once raw and sophisticated - and until now, it had never been released outside of Peru.

I can barely describe how fresh these songs are. If you like, you can check out the full compilation of Peruvian chicha, or listen to more of Los Hijos del Sol here.